The “Buying Sex Is Not a Sport” coalition
has begun its antitrafficking campaign
in preparation for the July 2015 Pan Am
Games to be held in Toronto. “Most of
what we find indicates the purchase
of sex goes up around major sporting
events,” says Glendyne Gerrard, director
of the advocacy group Defend Dignity.

“We decided to use the Pan Am Games
to draw attention to what is happening
all the time at these sporting events.”
www.christianweek.org

cHuRcH WEBsITE HackEdWITH IsIs mEssagE

Police in Barrie, Ont., are investigating
after Inniswood Baptist Church’s website
was hacked by someone proclaiming
support for the Islamic State terror
group and calling for the elimination of
America. Someone posted what appears
to be the ISIS logo and wrote, “I love you
ISIS” on the church’s website in early
November. www.ctvnews.ca

gRaVEs FouNd uNdERToRoN To cHuRcH paRkINg lo T

Archeologists have found dozens of setsof century-old human remains underthe parking lot of St. John the EvangelistRoman Catholic Church in Toronto. Thecoffins and grave markers date as farback as 1866. The dig site is next toMetrolinx-owned property where workis being done on the Union-PearsonExpress train route. www.cbc.ca

maNI ToBa pas ToR suEdFoR RackINg up $202,000 o NcHuRcH cREdIT caRd

The Anglican Church of Canada and
the Diocese of Brandon are suing
Archdeacon Noah Njegovan, 32, for
racking up more than $202,286.42
in fraudulent expenses on a church
Visa card between January 2010 and
September 2012. Charges included trips
to Las Vegas, massages, clothing and a
Netflix subscription. The diocese was
successful in obtaining a court-ordered
freeze of all of Njegovan’s assets in
October. www.cbc.ca

coNcERT posTpoNEd duE Toc HuRc H’s smudg E BaN

The Mennonite Central Committee
cancelled its 50th anniversary benefit
concert, its largest event of the year,
because the hosting church objected
to a native smudging ceremony.

Smudging involves burning sage or
sweetgrass. It is a common indigenous
practice, usually done before any sacred
activity is performed. “The policies that
govern the use of our facilities are not
about wanting to celebrate diversity,”
said Scott Bullerwell, lead pastor at
Immanuel Pentecostal Church. “They
are simply an affirmation of our belief
system and a reflection of our statement
of faith.” www.cbc.ca –daRRyl dasH

NOTE WORTHY

FROM OU TSIdE, THE building still looks somewhat
like a bank, as it was built to be over a century
ago. Inside is quite another story. The open,
sunlit space is redolent with the aromas of
coffee, fresh-baked muffins and homemade
entrees, and filled with people from all walks of
life, meeting and eating together.

Welcome to 541 ( www.FiveFortyOne.ca), a
newly opened “eatery and exchange” that takes its
name from its number on Barton St. in Hamilton,
Ont. Its mission: offering healthy food at affordable prices, using the proceeds to fund initiatives
that educate and invest in the surrounding
neighbourhood and its people.

541 began as a social enterprise project of
Compass Point Bible Church, a church with
campuses in Burlington and Hamilton. The cafe
was intended to be a welcoming space for the
practical outworking of the gospel. As renovations neared completion earlier this year, the
space also became home to a congregation
known as The Meeting Place. That congregation’s pastor, Sue Carr, was soon hired as 541’s
executive director.

Now, two months after 541 officially opened,
Carr shares what she’s experienced here. The
combined beauty of the eatery and the congregation, she says, is that “worship and the expression
of hospitality is the heart of what we do.” When

541 fills with both waged and unwaged patrons –
“people for whom life is a struggle, and people for
whom it hasn’t been a struggle yet” – Carr sees a
richly collective sense of respect and responsibility for the space and its community.

Visitors can easily recognize this too. Lingerover coffee for an hour, and you’ll see frequentcustomers taking turns serving behind thecounter or busing tables. Customers who canspare a dollar are invited to buy a button to placein the button jar, from which other customers cantake to subsidize their own meals or coffees.There are everyday challenges to ministering ina sometimes troubled neighbourhood. Carradmits she’s thankful for her chaplaincy trainingin such “colourful” moments, but she insists,smiling, that this is “what the Kingdom issupposed to look like.”Could this model take root elsewhere? Abso-lutely, says Carr, but it “has to be born in and of thelocal culture” – much like local churches.–maTTHEW FoRREsT loWE
40

Percentage of
coffee drinkers
who enjoy their
java at a coffee
sho P

(COFFEE ASSOCIATION OF
CANADA)

An eatery, an exchange and aministry flourish in Hamilton
WWW.FAITHTOdAY.CA / JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2015 13